Pakoda

Pakora

Alternative names	Pakoda, pakodi, ponako
Type	Fritter
Course	Appetizer or snack
Place of origin	India
Region or state	Indian subcontinent
Main ingredients	Chickpea batter, other ingredients (including vegetables, fruit, meat, or fish)
Variations	Potato, onion, cauliflower, spinach, paneer

Pakora (pronounced [pəkoʊɽaː]), also called pakoda, pakodi, or ponako, is a fried snack (fritter). It is found across the Indian subcontinent, especially in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.

The word pakoṛā is derived from Sanskrit पक्ववट pakvavaṭa, a compound of pakva ('cooked') and vaṭa ('a small lump') or its derivative vaṭaka, 'a round cake made of pulse fried in ghee'.

Some divergence of transliteration may be noted in the third consonant in the word. The sound is the retroflex flap [ɽ], which is written in Hindi with the Devanagari letter ड़, and in Urdu with letter ڑ.

In International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, however, the Hindi letter ड़ is transliterated as <ṛ>, popular or non-standard transliterations of Hindi use <d> for this sound, because etymologically, it derives from ड /ɖ/. The occurrence of this consonant in the word pakora has given rise to two common alternative spellings in English: pakoda, which reflects its etymology, and pakora, which reflects its phonology.

Among the Muslim Cape Malays of South Africa, pakoras are known as dhaltjies, and are usually eaten as an appetiser during iftar, or as a snack food for weddings, births, or similar occasions.

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